WHAT TO WATCH

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Here is a look at stories that we think will continue

to make headlines in 2001, along with an actual headline likely to appear

in the Daily Pilot.

City sets start date for Greenlight

The growth-control debate that ranked high on the list of conversation

topics among Newport Beach’s residents in 2000 is set to continue right

from today.

The broad vision of the victorious Greenlight initiative, which will

leave the final decision on certain general plan amendments up to the

voters, has already become city law.

The next step is for City Council members to meet Jan. 9 to discuss

guidelines for Greenlight’s application in real life.

The main topics under consideration will include setting a start date

for the initiative’s “look-back period.” Choosing 1990 would mean that

any general plan amendment during the past 10 years would count toward

the threshold that triggers an election. A 2000 starting date could help

avoid unnecessary visits to the polls, and Greenlight supports have said

that they’d prefer this option.

Council member are expected to vote on the starting date as well as

other clarifications at the end of the month.

Whether Greenlight will become active this year is another question

waiting to be answered.

Three developers with projects before the city that potentially could

trigger an election have not made up their mind about what to do next.

Officials for Conexant Systems and Koll Center, which both have large

expansion plans in the works, said they would wait to decide until city

officials had come up with guidelines for Greenlight.

Tim Quinn, project manager for the Dunes Hotel project at the Newport

Dunes, said he is too busy constructing another hotel in San Diego to

concentrate on next steps at the moment.

With the future unclear, Escondido in San Diego County -- where a

similar growth-control measure passed in 1998 -- gives the best

indication of what to expect.

In that city, voters rejected all eight projects that had ended up on

the Nov. 2000 ballot.

Developers should start preparing for a tough fight.

Newport Beach clamps down on John Wayne fight

With the clock ticking down on the flight restrictions at John Wayne

Airport, officials in Newport Beach City Hall will continue their efforts

to extend them beyond 2005.

The city has hired an aviation law firm, based in San Francisco, to

assist in the process.

Anxiety levels are low four years away from the end of the caps,

despite recent data that shows the airport is closing in on its annual

passenger capacity. The San Francisco firm has indicated that the 1985

settlement agreement could be extended.

That agreement put the current restrictions -- a nighttime flight

curfew, 8.4-million annual passenger cap and other controls -- in place.

“I’m anxious about Dec. 31, 2005,” Newport Beach Councilman Dennis

O’Neil said. “I believe that Orange County is growing, that it’s one of

the most desirable places to locate your business or home.”

The city, arm-in-arm with the county officials who own and run the

airport and local civic leaders, will need federal approval to extend the

noise restrictions.

City officials hope to invoke the “grandfather-clause” argument, since

the caps existed before Congress passed the Airport Noise and Capacity

Act in 1990. That law prevents local airports from imposing noise

restrictions.

Committee picks schools to get bond money

After months of quiet following the turbulent election when voters

approved a $163-million school bond in June, residents will begin to see

some results of their vote this spring.

With the start of the new year, the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District should just about finish putting together the 31-member

oversight committee that will keep an eye on district spending of the

funds.

Once the group is formed, they will begin meeting and choose four

additional at-large community members and two senior citizen

representatives.

Meanwhile, each school campus will put together site-based committees,

which will have a say in the work done on the campus each represents.

While those two selection processes are in progress, the district is

working on lining up candidates for a project manager position they hope

to fill by early February, said Mike Fine, assistant superintendent of

business services.

By the end of the school year, residents can begin to look for new

playgrounds and black tops at schools, since those items do not require

state approval.

It then will be up to the districtwide committee to decide where to

begin the refurbishing of campuses this summer.

New plan in place for Crystal Cove

The state parks department should hear an earful at its Jan. 18 public

briefing about the future of Crystal Cove.

Following through on its 1996 hiring of San Francisco developer

Passport Resorts, the state parks department set the meeting to lay out

plans to convert the 46 beach-side cottages into a $35-million luxury

resort.

Environmental groups active on the issue have vowed to block the

resort plan even while some of them, including the Alliance to Rescue

Crystal Cove, began talks with the state and Passport’s Crystal Cove

Preservation Partners on an alternative project.

The labor of several weeks of closed-door sessions should bear fruit

early in the year, since both the state and developer have said they

would back an alternate plan.

Yet the state hasn’t pulled the current plan off the table, saying its

parks board could vote on it in the spring. The plan also must secure the

approval of the California Coastal Commission.

The state bought the land in 1979 from the Irvine Co. That same year

it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, a listing that

has added another wrinkle to the development process. The cottages, some

of which were built in the 1920s, are examples of “beachfront vernacular”

architecture. As an entry on the registry, they must be restored to

strict standards.

Shocking testimony rocks Bechler courtroom

Eric Bechler, the 33-year-old Newport Beach man accused of killing his

wife during a boating excursion three years ago, will find out this month

if he will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole.

The trial, which started in December, will resume Wednesday when

attorneys from both sides are expected to bring in more witnesses.

So far, the prosecution has presented two key witnesses. They brought

in Bechler’s former model girlfriend, Tina New, who said Bechler

confessed to her about bludgeoning to death his 38-year-old wife, Pegye,

and dumping her in the ocean. Her body has never been found.

Bechler has denied all accusations and maintained that a rogue wave

swept Pegye off the speedboat she was driving while towing him on a body

board. Prosecutors allege that Bechler killed his wife to get his hands

on a $2.5-million life insurance policy.

Secretly recorded conversations between New and Bechler in October

1999, when he talked about killing his wife, led to his arrest.

The prosecution also called Bechler’s friend, Kobi Laker, who told the

jury that Bechler talked about stuffing his wife in a barrel and dumping

her in the ocean four months before her disappearance.

The defense is yet to present its witnesses, but Bechler’s attorney

John Barnett tried to establish that his client lied to New about killing

his wife to fuel her fantasy to be with “bad boys” -- men who live on the

edge and have frequent encounters with the law.

Sparks fly at council meeting

While they reelected Mayor Libby Cowan, Costa Mesa voters’ desire for

change was apparent in the election of Karen Robinson and Chris Steel,

who had been defeated in nine previous races.

The vote drastically changed City Hall, which lost Councilman Joe

Erickson -- who didn’t run for reelection -- and Councilwoman Heather

Somers.

Already, Cowan and Steel have expressed different opinions on a number

of subjects, including nonprofits and the city’s job center.

Steel has said he is against the job center and in favor of reviewing

the city’s nonprofits to determine their necessity, an action in line

with his view that nonprofits that don’t require U.S. citizenship

screening are a “magnet” for illegal immigrants.

Cowan has said she thinks the job center is necessary, and both Cowan

and Councilman Linda Dixon have expressed support for a number of the

nonprofits.

There have already been a few testy moments at the initial council

meetings, and with big issues looming, differences of opinion should only

widen.

All this seems to ensure that the city’s recently begun visioning

process to determine a sketch of the city’s future will be long and

controversial.

Other issues also are likely to get sticky.

While Cowan said she is happy with the city budget, for instance, both

Robinson and Steel said during their campaigns that they would keep a

close watch on city spending and especially on city salaries.

Annexation efforts delayed again

It’s still unclear whether Newport Beach will actually get to annex

Newport Coast, a wealthy community south of the city, as well as Santa

Ana Heights and Bay Knolls near John Wayne Airport, in 2001.

A recent decision by city officials to introduce legislation in

Sacramento might push back an original July annexation date to January

2002.

Deputy City Manager Dave Kiff said that the move was necessary to make

sure that an additional 825 homes can be built in Newport Coast. Since

the city lacks a so-called local coastal program, which allows local

governments to issue permits for development projects in California’s

coastal areas, opponents of further growth in Newport Coast theoretically

could challenge the construction of additional homes. The county, which

currently governs Newport Coast, has such a program in place.

Although the other two annexation areas would not be affected by this

potential setback, Kiff said that the city would keep all three

annexations together as a package.

While residents in Santa Ana Heights and Bay Knolls have already

expressed their interest in being annexed, Newport Coast resident have

been more hesitant. But a committee of the area’s leaders voted in

September to recommend supporting the plan.

Should the annexation -- which many describe as the climax of the

city’s long history of expansion -- go ahead, Newport Beach will pay

Newport Coast residents $18 million over 15 years and will set aside an

additional $7 million to build a civic center for the area. The money is

intended to make up for taxes and special levies for streets, parks and

schools that amount to more than twice what residents of the city pay.

If all three areas are annexed, Newport Beach would gain about 5,000

acres and 6,000 residents. The city currently covers 21,390 acres and has

an estimated population of 72,600.

Westside plan draws heated criticism

Costa Mesa’s attempts to improve its aging, rundown Westside --

especially through redevelopment -- will be a major issue filled with

emotion and controversy.

Since 1998, the city has targeted the Westside for intense

revitalization. A now-defunct plan to improve the area included making

the neighborhood more pedestrian-oriented, replacing some existing

apartments with town homes or smaller home developments and cleaning up

businesses.

After two years of meetings and studies, the council voted in December

to scrap the plan and use it just as a resource for developing a new one,

which won’t be sketched until the council first can agree on a vision for

the entire city.

While the visioning process is sure to be a slow one, with the council

opinion deeply divided on many issues, it is unlikely the Westside

improvement issue will die.

Westside organizations, including the Latino Community Network,

Citizens to Improve Costa Mesa and the Westside Improvement Assn., have

promised to be diligent in making sure the issue is not dropped, and

Councilman Gary Monahan, chairman of the city’s Redevelopment Agency,

said he is also anxious to take action on the Westside.

Action to remodel the business sections almost certainly will be

considered, along with the far more controversial redevelopment of

housing.

Despite some allegations that enforcement has been unfair, many

residents say new property maintenance codes -- which took affect this

year -- have already begun to improve housing.

Work begins on SCR expansion

South Coast Repertory has raised more than $22.6 million in a

$40-million campaign for “SCR: The Next Stage,” which includes a new

336-seat stage, renovations on existing facilities and additions to its

endowment.

Contributions included $2.5 million from the theater’s board

president, Paul Folino, and his family; $2.5 million from Broadcom chief

executive Henry T. Nicholas III and wife, Stacey; and $1 million from the

Segerstrom Foundation.

Henry Segerstrom also gave $40 million and six additional acres of

land in August for the construction of a 2,000-seat concert hall at the

Orange County Performing Arts Center. The project will include an

acoustically state-of-the-art concert space, a 500-seat multipurpose hall

in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and a central public

plaza.

Both facilities are scheduled to open in 2002.

Groundbreaking for SCR’s new theater is set for the fall, with

construction lasting about a year. At the end of the 2001-2002 season,

renovations will begin on existing buildings.